Griswold captures youth football title

This time, the Wolverines walked off the field as victors, and they did it in the most improbable of ways. The high-potent offense that put up 292 points in eight regular season games put up six on Sunday, but still defeated Westerly, 6-0.

The Griswold Senior football team watched film and practiced all week for Westerly, its Super Bowl opponent, but possibly the most important thing the Wolverines did was reflect on their last trip to championship game in 2010.

The Griswold Junior team entered the Super Bowl undefeated last year, much like they did on Sunday. They left the Junior Super Bowl with their first loss.

“At least half of them were on that team last year,” Griswold coach Kevin Whittaker said about his Senior team. “We talked about remembering that feeling. There (were) pictures of some of them in the paper walking off the field with their head down. I said, ‘That feeling, we don’t want to have it again.’ ”

This time, the Wolverines walked off the field as victors, and they did it in the most improbable of ways. The high-potent offense that put up 292 points in eight regular season games put up six on Sunday, but still defeated Westerly, 6-0.

It was Griswold’s (10-0) first Senior Division championship.

“I wanted to hold (Westerly) under 10 points,” Whittaker said. “That was my goal. I told the kids, ‘Let’s try to pitch a shutout for the entire playoffs,’ but I didn’t know it would happen, and I didn’t know we would need it to win.”

Griswold defeated Westerly, 36-16, when they matched up in the regular season. The rematch for the Super Bowl title was a defensive battle.

Running back Brandon Yeaton (14 rushes, 41 yards) strained his hip earlier in the week at a basketball practice and Whittaker sarcastically said he was “thrilled.” The coach wasn’t sure what he was going to get out of his top runners on Sunday, but Yeaton came up with the most important play of the game — a 12-yard run for the game’s lone touchdown in the second quarter.

Westerly’s (8-3) offense touched the ball only twice in the opening half. Both drives were halted by sacks; Gaige Barrows had the first and Jordan Baker the second.

Griswold, one of the top passing teams in the Southern New England Conference, didn’t complete a pass. Anthony Colson had two interceptions for the Bulldogs in the first half.

“We worked a lot on defense and worked hard to take away what they did well the game before, and the kids played well,” Westerly coach Joe Ritacco said.

In the fourth quarter, Westerly mounted its most promising drive. With 5 minutes, 47 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs found themselves in a 4th-and-2 situation on the Griswold 30-yard line. Colson delivered a 12-yard screen pass to Derek Orr to move the chains.

Westerly advanced to the 15-yard line after a run from Jacee Hamelin (16 rushes, 52 yards), but that was where the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs three plays later.

Page 2 of 2 - With 53.7 seconds remaining in the fourth, Griswold faced a 4th-and-2 at their own 18-yard line. Westerly already had used all of its timeouts.

The ball was put in the hands of Peyton Whittaker (15 rushes, 106 yards).

“I was really nervous, because I felt like if I (didn’t) get it, I know it was all going to come down on me if we ended up losing the game,” Peyton Whittaker said.

He was hit hard at the line of scrimmage, but kept his legs moving until coming to a stop at the 14-yard line with a 4-yard gain.

“It (stunk) walking off the field knowing that we could have gone undefeated,” Yeaton said, reflecting on his Junior Super Bowl experience, “but it feels better to come back and win it this year.”

At halftime, one of the Griswold Senior team’s biggest supporters, Joe Kelly — who is fighting a brain tumor — was awarded the Super Bowl Dedication plaque at midfield. At the end of Sunday’s game, Kelly and Kevin Whittaker each held up the Super Bowl trophy in the same spot.

“That kid is such an inspiration,” Kevin Whittaker said. “Nobody has been through more and takes it in stride like he does. He is probably the hardest worker on this team and he didn’t play a down all year.”